1. Field
The present disclosure relates to the fields of medical and biological research and methods for discovering medical therapeutic treatments and methods for treating certain diseases and/or ailments. Certain aspects of this disclosure relate to properties of and uses of grape extract and substances related to grape extract.
2. Background
Grape extract has been studied for its use as a possible dietary supplement and has been available commercially from a variety of sources. For example, a form of grape extract called Regrapex-R is available from Interpharma Praha, a.s., of the Czech Republic. Regrapex-R is a whole extract from red grapes of Vitis vinifera, grown in southern France, and contains a natural resveratrol complex derived from dried roots of Polygonum cuspidatum. Other forms of grape extract include grape seed extracts which are commercially available.
Examples of uses of grape extract are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,470,894 and 6,638,545. U.S. Pat. No. 6,470,894 describes a composition for inclusion within a cigarette, cigar, pipe or smokeless tobacco, and this composition is an antioxidant complex which is capable of scavenging and neutralizing the free radicals emanating from the burning or heated tobacco. This composition includes glutathione, green tea and/or grape seed extract. U.S. Pat. No. 6,638,545 describes the use of grape extract as a food complement to treat obesity and to treat, for cosmetic purposes, cellulite. The grape extract is obtained from grape seeds or grape marc. Other uses of grape extract are described in published U.S. Patent Applications 2005/0100617 and 2004/0047896.
The grape extract “Regrapex-R” includes resveratrol which has been thought to be a possible caloric restriction (CR) mimetic. CR is a technique in which subjects, such as mice or humans, are fed a diet (“a CR diet”) which has less than a “normal” amount of food for at least a certain period of time. Typically, the amount of food given in the CR diet is less than about 50% or 40% of the minimum recommended daily amount measured in calories. The effects of a CR diet have been extensively studied, and numerous researchers have developed techniques to screen for interventions, such as therapeutic substances or compounds, which when administered to a subject on a normal diet tend to cause the subject's physiological or biological state to mimic the state of an organism on a CR diet. Such interventions are referred to as CR mimetics because they cause the biological state of the organism receiving the intervention to mimic the state of a similar organism on a CR diet even if the organism is not on a CR diet. The effects of CR diets and techniques for screening for CR mimetics are described in the following patents and published applications which are hereby incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,406,853 and 6,569,624 and U.S. published applications 2005/0266438, 2005/0013776, 2004/0191775, 2004/0180003, 2003/0224360 and 2003/0124540.